US Says Yemen’s Houthis Ballistic Missile Misses US Tanker Torm Thor 

Newly recruited university students shout slogans during a protest against US-led strikes on Houthi positions, at Sanaa University, in Sana'a, Yemen, 21 February 2024. (EPA)
Newly recruited university students shout slogans during a protest against US-led strikes on Houthi positions, at Sanaa University, in Sana'a, Yemen, 21 February 2024. (EPA)
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US Says Yemen’s Houthis Ballistic Missile Misses US Tanker Torm Thor 

Newly recruited university students shout slogans during a protest against US-led strikes on Houthi positions, at Sanaa University, in Sana'a, Yemen, 21 February 2024. (EPA)
Newly recruited university students shout slogans during a protest against US-led strikes on Houthi positions, at Sanaa University, in Sana'a, Yemen, 21 February 2024. (EPA)

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said early on Monday that Yemen's Houthis militias launched one anti-ship ballistic missile likely targeting the MV Torm Thor, but missed the US-flagged, owned and operated oil tanker, in the Gulf of Aden on Feb. 24.

The missile impacted the water causing no damage nor injuries, CENTCOM added in a post on X.

The Iran-aligned group said on Sunday that they targeted the tanker, as the militants continue to attack shipping lanes in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

The US military also shot down in "self-defense" two one-way unmanned aerial attack vehicles over the southern Red Sea on Sunday, said CENTCOM.

The Houthis have launched exploding drones and missiles at commercial vessels since Nov. 19 as a protest against Israel's military operations in Gaza.

The turmoil from Israel's war with the Palestinian group Hamas has spilled over to some extent into other parts of the Middle East.

Apart from the Houthi attacks on vital shipping lanes, Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group has traded fire with Israel along the Israel-Lebanon border and Iraqi militia have attacked bases that host US forces.



Israel Orders Evacuation of Area Designated as Humanitarian Zone in Gaza

 A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
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Israel Orders Evacuation of Area Designated as Humanitarian Zone in Gaza

 A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)

Israel’s military ordered the evacuation Saturday of a crowded part of Gaza designated as a humanitarian zone, saying it is planning an operation against Hamas militants in Khan Younis, including parts of Muwasi, a makeshift tent camp where thousands are seeking refuge.

The order comes in response to rocket fire that Israel says originates from the area. It's the second evacuation issued in a week in an area designated for Palestinians fleeing other parts of Gaza. Many Palestinians have been uprooted multiple times in search of safety during Israel's punishing air and ground campaign.

On Monday, after the evacuation order, multiple Israeli airstrikes hit around Khan Younis, killing at least 70 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, citing figures from Nasser Hospital.

The area is part of a 60-square-kilometer (roughly 20-square-mile) “humanitarian zone” to which Israel has been telling Palestinians to flee to throughout the war. Much of the area is blanketed with tent camps that lack sanitation and medical facilities and have limited access to aid, United Nations and humanitarian groups say. About 1.8 million Palestinians are sheltering there, according to Israel's estimates. That's more than half Gaza’s pre-war population of 2.3 million.

The war in Gaza has killed more than 39,100 Palestinians, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. The UN estimated in February that some 17,000 children in the territory are now unaccompanied, and the number is likely to have grown since.

The war began with an assault by Hamas fighters on southern Israel on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took about 250 hostages. About 115 are still in Gaza, about a third of them believed to be dead, according to Israeli authorities.